Comments

Hi:
Ok, here are some suggestions, along with a couple of things I think should be modified (there's no priority order, I'm writing them just as they come to my mind):

1. I would like the ability to select (not on a per file basis but permanently) the output folder for the generated video when using the option "Automatic file naming" (instead of CamStudio's main folder, which is the default right now).

2. Maybe you could allow the user to select a "base name", working along with an autonumbering feature. Example:

Base name = Video## ---> Will name the files as "Video01.avi", "Video02.avi", etc.
Base name = MyScreen### ---> Will name the files as "MyScreen001.avi", "MyScreen002.avi", etc.

3. It'll be great if you could use some kind of plain-text-file system (like XML, INI, etc.) for translation purposes. However, I don't know if that's feasible at this point or if it means changing too much of the code to achieve it. (* See the post script)

4. When you drop down the Options menu, and because of the amount of lines in it, the status bar gets visually blocked, rendering it pretty much useless if you're counting on it to give you extended information about the diffent items on the menu. You only need to expand the height of CamStudio's main window (or just make it resizable) to fix this issue.

5. This is more of a reminder than a suggestion, sorry, but I reported a bug here: http://camstudio.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=19&page=1#Item_0

6. Another thing that rather falls in the "bug report" category: the way in which "Automatic file naming" currently works has a problem. For example, if CamStudio saves a file that was recorded at 14:05:29 hs. on Feb 17, 2008, the resulting automatic name will be "1722008_145_29.avi". But if you save a file, let say, ten minutes later (14:15:29) the name will be "1722008_1415_29.avi". So, when you later open your explorer and browse through your files, the order won't reflect their creation time (unless, of course, you set the explorer to sort files by creation time instead of name). This really becomes an annoyance if you have a few dozens of them.
This also applies to the date. So, to sum up the problem, CamStudio doesn't take the 0 (zero) into account when gathering the Date/Time info from the system, and that translates into future ordering (by name) problems.

Well, I think that's it (for now? :P). Sorry for the huge post, and thanks for your time and work.
Best regards,
Gabriel.

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* P.S: For the time beeing, I took the liberty of translating Recorder.exe, Player.exe, Playplus.exe and Producer.exe (all from version 2.5 Beta 1) completely to Spanish, which is my first language (it's some kind of a hobby for me). If that's ok with you, CamStudio developer and/or admin of this forum, I can upload the translated files to some hosting service like Megaupload or Mediafire and give you the link, in case you want to include it somewhere in CamStudio's download options.
Just so you know, all I did was changing the English texts to Spanish; every single thing except that remains intact and as designed by the developer.
If you replace the 4 EXE files from "CamStudio.2.5.b1.bin.zip" with those I modified, you have a 100% working Spanish distribution.

1. the ability to record a full workspace--two monitors in dual view mode for example.
2. record objects form within a window.
3. record window (or objects) even if it losses focus(read it gets covered or minimized).
4. I also like very much to see the Zoom in function. (posted by Kev)
5. how about drawing onto screen while recording?

Thanks for your feedback, and sorry it took so long to respond. I have read that people want the ability to zoom in on the new CS, and I would like to say that I don't think that I am going to do it. Windows XP and Vista both have a built magnifying glass, and I don't see it as a necessity to make one. But if you put up a convincing argument, I might. :)

I hadn't thought of the in-recording zoom, but I got curious and tried the Windows XP magifier tool. That thing is pretty horrid, but maybe it's just horrid to me because I don't need it or it's not the way I want to use it. It splits your screen into a "magnified" area versus an "unmagnified" area. You resize the magnified area to however large you want. While you mouse over the unmagnified area, the magnified area shows the exact same thing in the zoom size you set.

If I'm using it in conjuction with CamStudio, this means that if I wanted to zoom, I'd have to drag the the recording area from the unmagnified area to the magnified area and back again to "zoom" in and out. I can see that causing my viewers to throw up all over their keyboards from motion sickness.

Alternatively, I could have the recording area span the magnified and unmagnified areas. Both zoomed and 1:1 views would be recorded though. I couldn't have 1:1 view for most of my recording, but enlarged view for one or two things.

All right, I get what you all mean. I just tried both the Vista and the XP editions, so I know what you all are getting at... But in the meantime there is a free utility that Nick made a post about. Go here: http://www.workerscollection.com/wcollect/english/html/index.html

Hi!
As I mentioned on another post, maybe some re-work on the "Stop recording after pre-set time" feature, specifically:
- get rid of the 7200 second limit
- make the field editable and not just up/down buttons.

All right, more great suggestions. I'll probably make a poll regarding what you want for the 2.5 Final edition. I hope to have a screenshot up REALLY soon, which has:
-New and improved "Web 2.0" glossy buttons.
-Longer Menus-- Meaning more options for CS
-Help Files
-And probably the memory leaks removed.

Couple of items:
as to the auto naming using the date and time stamp -- the best method, for sorting purposes would be:
yyyymmdd_hhmm_ss so that it would be 20080405_1118_07 for the time I posted this.

This may seem like a big step backwards, but I was recently recording a meeting with presentations. Some included powerpoint, some were speakers only. The ability to record only audio would be nice. I know that is available from a lot of other programs, but having it in CamStudio, as we have video only options, would mean a single set-up for the meeting and one less piece of software to worry about.

I use camstudio a lot, thing is the video editing software i use to put the clips together (Sony) won't recognize the clips format, is there a way for camstudio to save as other file formats like mpg, otherwise i have to use windows movie maker and that really sucks, thank you, Neo :0)

I used to get my own screenshots, edit, and post online, then refer to the posting in forums, blogs, etc. The target would usually be photobucket or imgspot or similar. I shifted to Jing from TechSmith to do the same with video. They offer a nice UI to upload to a limited set of defined sites. Jing has business and technical issues that I won't go into here but those issues prompted me to take another close look at CamStudio - and I've since unloaded Jing.

I think it's important to have some of these add-on type functions made available to CamStudio users. For example, I or someone else could code a routine to use a file system watcher that will take videos put into a specific directory and upload them to a defined web/ftp site. So if editing isn't important for little hit-n-run ditties like vblogs then all you need to do is stop recording to have a vid auto-uploaded wherever you want. Or maybe a tray icon with a context menu can do the same - I'm sure you get the drift.

Completely unrelated, "proper" selection of video and audio settings is a very manual and possibly time consuming process. I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate more guidance from the UI on exactly what various settings will do to their videos in terms of quality and file size - or at least a dedicated wiki area that explores the various settings and _why_ people use or don't use specific settings.

I'd Like to be able to save in GIF Format,
What I used to do was Take AVI, edit them in Windows Movie Maker, then Transfer them to FLash MX for Resizing and Exporting to GIF.
Unfortunately I found my videos to always have lower quality then I wanted and was choppy
EVen though when I looked at the originally Captured Video, it wasnt so bad.

So Direct Link TO GIF Format would be nice

Also, A minor Movie Editing Program would be nice.
Just So I dont have to use so many different programs and watch the quality of my movies slowly go down the tube

Q: Add the command line version
A: Done!...at least code wise. The project was just added to the solution workspace. That code will be part fo the build until I merge the feaure into the main recorder. However...the single instance code has been restored to functionality so running both recorders may not work.
Q: Movie editor/image export.
A. The export seems reasonable. The editor is a bit more involved.
Q: More formats
A. Can't say we will but it's an obvious direction.
Q: Blending videos/keyboard capture.
A. Sounds like an editor feature. The keyboard stuff I'll have to look at. it seems like a different type of annotation. Mouse capture is easy but keyboard capture can be a problem on systems.
Q: Mouse curso flahs/color.
A. I think that is a possibility. We do the highlight now.
Q: Auto file name format.
A. This should be user configurable.
Q: Zoom during record.
A. Have to think about that. It seems like a window-in-a-window but might dsirupt the running aplication so it may be a post recording operation.

As this program is opensource, would it not make sense to include a converter program for an opensource video file format, such as Xiph Theora, as they now have directshow filters for it, and the next releases of Opera and Firefox will support it.

Just a suggestion and I have no idea how much work would be involved in doing this, but a Camstudio codec to Theora codec converter would be awesome.

I would like to be able to be in AutoPan view and use the keyboard shortcuts or arrow keys to enlarge/make smaller the AutoPan view (keeping same aspect ratio).

This can be particularly useful wen for example showing the whole desktop, then using the enlarge to sort of work as a lens to show a particular menu and then smoothly transform back to the desktop view or fixed region view.

Another thing, is to perhaps use Tabs for the whole program, so different tabs may contain related menus etc, then you could have tooltip for each option. I'm not sure if you can have tooltip in menu mode.

Other than that, great program, didn't know it existed until I searched on YouTube for best screen recording applications and this one got best marks.

I would like to see a timer implemented in this. That way I can have it record whatever I need at any specific times.
There are some TV broadcasts that are shown using flash and the only way to record them is via camstudio. A timer would turn it into a proper video recorder.

...The current version can already do this. You just haven't configured it properly. Be sure to enable sound by selecting "Record Audio from Speakers" option in the Options menu.

Then afterwords you may need to configure the speaker input settings. You can find that in the Audio Options menu as well. Go to "Audio Options", then find "Audio Options for speakers". Afterwords click the "Audo Search" button at the bottom, so the program will find the appropriate line input to use. If it fails to do that properly, you can try "Manual Search".

Hi. I would like CamStudio to be more like a microwave oven, where you can hit a button for certain common, basic functions, like 1 for popcorn, 2 for coffee, 3 for potato.

I would like to see CamStudio have default buttons at the highest quality level for basics like filming segments off a video, rather than leave a non-technical person like me floundering with the many different potential setups.

I would like to have DirectShow support for recording. Perhaps the easiest way is to support integration with VH Screen Capture Driver http://www.hmelyoff.com/index.php?section=8 but there are probably other freely usable methods as well.

This would make it easier to record embedded MS Player video and overlay effects. It should also allow a higher frame rate than turning scrren acceleration off.